Computer-implemented system and method for measuring and reporting business intelligence based on comments collected from web page users using software associated with accessed web pages

ABSTRACT

According to one embodiment, a computer-implemented method for measuring and reporting business intelligence based on comments collected from web page users using software associated with accessed web pages includes: using a computer system, accessing a plurality of user comments collected from users of one or more web pages using feedback collection software that provides users who access a particular web page a viewable element through which to provide their comments regarding one or more aspects of a business associated with the particular web page; using a computer system, associating each of the plurality of collected user comments with one or more of a plurality of predefined business-related categories; and using a computer system, generating a report identifying, for each of the plurality of predefined business-related categories, one or more quantitative values derived from the collected user comments associated with that business-related category.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/824,122 filed Aug. 31, 2006.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to computer-implemented feedbackcollection and reporting and more particularly to a computer-implementedsystem and method for measuring and reporting business intelligencebased on comments collected from web page users using softwareassociated with accessed web pages.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Customer feedback data is among the richest sources of intelligenceavailable to businesses and the Internet is one of the mostunderutilized opportunities to access it. Many businesses providewebsites for customers, potential customers, partners, and the generalpublic to use to learn about the businesses and their products andservices. Some websites provide mechanisms to allow users to providefeedback to the business about the website, the products and services ofthe business, or the business itself. In some instances, the volume ofthis feedback data may be substantial and the subject matter may bevaried. Collection, analysis, and management of this feedback data istypically either ineffective, inefficient, or both. In some situations,valuable feedback data may be discarded because it does not fit withinan anticipated scope. In other situations, valuable feedback data may beunderutilized because it is only available for a single functional groupwithin a business, because it is only used for purposes that are limitedrelative to the nature of the feedback data, or because any analysis ofthe feedback data is not performed at a rate that is sufficient for thetime-sensitive nature of the feedback data.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Particular embodiments of the present invention may reduce or eliminateproblems and disadvantages associated with previous techniques formeasuring and reporting customer feedback.

In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method for measuring andreporting business intelligence based on comments collected from webpage users using software associated with accessed web pages includes:using a computer system, accessing a plurality of user commentscollected from users of one or more web pages using feedback collectionsoftware that provides users who access a particular web page a viewableelement through which to provide their comments regarding one or moreaspects of a business associated with the particular web page; using acomputer system, associating each of the plurality of collected usercomments with one or more of a plurality of predefined business-relatedcategories; and using a computer system, generating a reportidentifying, for each of the plurality of predefined business-relatedcategories, one or more quantitative values derived from the collecteduser comments associated with that business-related category.

In another embodiment, a system for measuring and reporting businessintelligence pertinent to a business includes software encoded in acomputer readable medium. When the software is executed using one ormore processors, the software is operable to access a plurality of usercomments collected from users of one or more web pages using feedbackcollection software that provides users who access a particular web pagea viewable element through which to provide their comments regarding oneor more aspects of a business associated with the particular web page;associate each of the plurality of collected user comments with one ormore of a plurality of predefined business-related categories; andgenerate a report identifying, for each of the plurality of predefinedbusiness-related categories, one or more quantitative values derivedfrom the collected user comments associated with that business-relatedcategory.

In another embodiment, an electronically generated business intelligencereport includes a plurality of category indicators each identifying oneof a plurality of predefined business-related categories; and aplurality of quantitative indicators identifying, for each of theplurality of predefined business-related categories, one or morequantitative values derived from user comments collected from users ofone or more web pages using feedback collection software that providesusers who access a particular web page a viewable element through whichto provide their comments regarding one or more aspects of a businessassociated with the particular web page.

Certain embodiments of the present invention may provide one or moretechnical advantages related to measuring and reporting businessintelligence. For example, certain embodiments may provide for moreefficient and timely assessment of the impact of certain businessactivities based on user feedback. Certain embodiments may makeavailable substantially real-time user feedback regarding one or moreaspects of a business and its operation. Particular embodiments mayprovide an organized metric for assessing the health of a business andits operation based on user feedback. Certain embodiments may providesubstantially real-time reporting, diagnostic tools, and automatedalerts. Certain embodiments may provide tools to categorize and/orassess a variety of collected user feedback that may extend beyond thescope of feedback that was initially expected. Certain embodiments mayprovide all, some, or none of these technical advantages. Certainembodiments may provide one or more other technical advantages, one ormore of which may be readily apparent to those skilled in the art fromthe figures, descriptions, and claims included herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example web page displaying an example element forsoliciting user feedback;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example element for receiving user feedback;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example report of business-related user feedback;

FIG. 4 illustrates example reports that may be generated for each of aplurality of industries;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example categorization scheme;

FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate an example interactive report;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example report of user feedback;

FIGS. 8A-8B illustrate example selection tools;

FIGS. 9A-9B illustrate example administrator tools; and

FIGS. 10A-10B illustrate example composite reports.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Feedback from customers, partners, and the general public can becollected through the use of various tools and techniques. For example,feedback may be collected over the phone, such as through a call centeror help desk. As another example, feedback may be collected in person,such as in focus groups or live marketing surveys. As another example,feedback may be written down and submitted through the mail orotherwise, such as in the case of a mail-in comment card. As anotherexample, feedback may be collected electronically, such as through theuse of a computer, PDA, interactive television system, etc. In certainembodiments, feedback may be collected through the use of a feedbackmechanism associated with a particular web site, web page, or Internetdistributed advertisement. In certain embodiments, feedback may becollected through the use of a feedback mechanism associated with aparticular television program, movie, or video advertisement. In thedescription provided, many example embodiments utilize electronicallycollected feedback, and more particularly feedback collected through aweb page mechanism, as an example; however, alternative embodiments ofthe present invention may utilize or operate with feedback collectedusing alternative tools and techniques, alone or in combination withfeedback electronically collected through a web page feedback mechanism.The present invention is intended to encompass these alternativeembodiments.

An example web page feedback mechanism utilizes a first element forsoliciting user feedback and a second element for receiving userfeedback. FIG. 1 illustrates an example web page 100 displaying anexample element 102 for soliciting user feedback. In the example shown,element 102 is an icon positioned in the lower right corner of web page100. FIG. 2 illustrates an example element 200 for receiving userfeedback. In the example shown, element 200 is a form with severalmulti-level rating scales 202, a topic selector 204, a comment box 206that may be utilized to provide open-ended comments, and a feedback toolfor collecting responses to an explicit question 208. In certainembodiments, a feedback mechanism may include tools to collectdemographic information for a user providing feedback. In certainembodiments, a feedback mechanism may include tools to collect web pageinformation, such as the web page title, URL, load time, and load date.In certain embodiments, a feedback mechanism may include tools tocollect the time and/or date that the feedback is provided. In certainembodiments, a feedback mechanism may include tools to collect,contextual information for a user, such as the user's IP address,hostname, username, password, network connection, time zone, operatingsystem, web browser, screen resolution, plug-ins, referring page,browser history, or any other appropriate aspects of the user'senvironment.

In certain embodiments, element 200 may be presented in response to auser selecting element 102. In certain embodiments, element 200 may openin a separate window from web page 100, in the same window as web page100 replacing web page 100, or in a frame within the same window as webpage 100. In certain embodiments, element 200 may be designed orintended to collect web-page specific user feedback, product or servicespecific user feedback, or company specific user feedback.

In certain embodiments, although element 200 may be designed or intendedto collect specific types of user feedback, additional types of feedbackmay also be collected. For example, element 200 may be designed orintended to collect feedback related to a particular web page, but maybe used by web page users to provide feedback unrelated to theparticular web page, such as feedback on one or more customer service orproduct related issues. As another example, element 200 may be designedor intended to collect feedback related to a particular product orservice, but may be used by web page users to provide feedback relatedto general corporate operations or recent news about the business.

In embodiments of element 200 that include comment box 206 or othertools for receiving open-ended user feedback, element 200 may collectuser feedback related to various aspects of a business and itsoperation. This user feedback may be broadly referred to as businessintelligence. Such business intelligence may be related to any aspect ofa business and its operation. For example, business intelligence mayinclude e-commerce information (including various aspects of thewebsite(s) of a business), customer service, sales, products andservices, marketing, corporate operations, etc.

In certain embodiments, user feedback related to business intelligencemay be categorized by the user that provides the feedback through theuse of one or more tools available at the time the feedback is provided.For example, while a user is viewing element 200 displayed by a computersystem, the user may identify a category for a particular user comment,using topic selector 204. As an alternative, in certain embodiments,user comments may be categorized by one or more analysts who may readuser comments and then associate each user comment with one or morebusiness-related categories or subcategories. In certain embodiments,user comments may be categorized by associating each user comment withone or more categories selected from a predefined group of categories.For example, an analyst may view a comment, either printed on paper ordisplayed by a computer, and then using a computer system the analystmay submit information into a database to associate the user commentwith one or more predefined business-related categories. As anotheralternative, all or a portion of the user comments may be automaticallycategorized by one or more software applications executed on a computersystem, in response to the user comments being accessed. For example, asoftware application executed on a computer system may utilize keywordassociations to categorize user comments. In addition, or as analternative, a software application executed on a computer system mayutilize inductive learning algorithms, Bayesian filters, or otherappropriate logic to categorize user comments.

In certain embodiments, user comments may be categorized at least inpart based on the user's demographic information, contextualinformation, or other information relating to the user or the user'smethods of providing feedback. For example, user comments may becategorized manually or automatically based on the user's IP address,hostname, username, password, network connection, time zone, operatingsystem, web browser, screen resolution, plug-ins, referring page, and/orbrowser history. In certain embodiments, this manual or automaticcategorization based on demographic information or contextualinformation may be used as an alternative to, or in addition to,categorization based on the user's comments or other feedback.

Example business-related categories may include customer service, sales,product, marketing, corporate operations and categories related toe-commerce (including various aspects of the website(s) of a business).In certain embodiments, one or more of these business-related categoriesmay include one or more sub-categories. For example a website categorymay include several sub-categories, such as general, usability, content,design, login/logout/password, online profile, search, checkout,technical support, etc.

In certain embodiments, a subjective assessment of each user comment maybe provided and ratings may be assigned to each user comment. In certainembodiments, user comments may be subjectively assessed by one or moreanalysts who may read user comments and then assign one or more ratingsto each user comment. For example, an analyst may view a comment, eitherprinted on paper or displayed by a computer; analyze the comment toprovide a subjective assessment; and then using a computer system theanalyst may submit information into a database to assign a rating to theuser comment. As another alternative, all or a portion of the usercomments may be automatically assessed by one or more softwareapplications executed on a computer system. For example, a softwareapplication executed on a computer system may utilize keywordassociations to assess user comments. In addition, or as an alternative,a software application executed on a computer system may utilizeinductive learning algorithms, Bayesian filters, or other appropriatelogic to categorize user comments.

Example ratings may include positive, negative, and neutral ratings.Example ratings may range from positive integers to negative integers,with zero being a neutral rating (e.g., from −3 to +3). Example ratingsmay be only positive integers, with a specified integer being associatedwith a neutral rating, integers above that specified integer beingassociated with a positive rating, and integers below that specifiedinteger being associated with a negative rating (e.g., from 1 to 5).Example ratings may be color-coded, with certain colors being associatedwith certain ratings. For example, green may be associated with positiveratings, red may be associated with negative ratings, and black oryellow may be associated with neutral ratings.

In certain embodiments, a report of user feedback may be generated. Thereport may include, for example, category indicators each identifyingone of a plurality of business-related categories, and a plurality ofquantitative indicators identifying, for each of the plurality ofbusiness-related categories, one or more quantitative values derivedfrom collected user comments collected. For example, a quantitativeindicator may identify the quantity of collected user commentsassociated with a particular business-related category. As anotherexample, a quantitative indicator may identify the quantity of collecteduser comments assigned to a particular rating. As another example, aquantitative indicator may identify an average rating for multiplecollected user comments associated with a particular business-relatedcategory. As another example, a quantitative indicator may identify adifference between a current average rating and a previous averagerating. As another example, a quantitative indicator may identify a rateof change in the average rating for collected user comments associatedwith a particular category.

In certain embodiments, the report may be based on user feedbackreceived within a specified period of time, such as user feedbackreceived in the last day, week, month, quarter, etc. In certainembodiments, the report may be based on a certain number of usercomments. For example, the report may indicate how many of the lastone-thousand comments are associated with each business-relatedcategory.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example report 300 of business-related userfeedback. In the embodiment shown, report 300 is a bar graph thatidentifies over one-hundred example business-related categories 302 andindicates for each particular business-related category, a quantity ofuser comments associated with the particular business-related categorybased on the sized of the bar associated with each identified category.In certain embodiments, report 300 may be color-coded. For example, eachbar shown in report 300 may be color-coded, such that each colorindicates a particular rating assigned to one or more user comments. Ina particular embodiment, each bar may include up to three colors, with ared portion indicating the quantity of negative user comments in aparticular category, a green portion indicating the quantity of positiveuser comments in the particular category, and a black or yellow portionindicating the quantity of neutral user comments in the particularcategory.

In a particular embodiment, report 300 may be presented as amirror-image bar graph, such that the graph includes a first half and asecond half, the first half being separated from the second half by anaxis of the graph and the first half being a mirror-image of the secondhalf. In embodiments utilizing a mirror-image bar graph, themirror-image may be utilized to magnify the size of each bar presentedon the graph.

In a particular embodiment, report 300 may be presented as a split-imagebar graph, such that the graph includes a first half and a second half,the first half being separated from the second half by an axis of thegraph and the first half providing a first set of information and thesecond half providing a second set of information. In certainembodiments, by including two sets of information on the same graph, itmay communicate trend information, benchmarks, or comparisons. Forexample, the first set of information may be current or recentinformation, such as information for the most recent day, month,quarter, or year; and the second set of information may be historical orcumulative information, such as information for the previous day, month,quarter, or year. As another example, the first set of information maybe information related to a particular business and the second set ofinformation may be information related to a different business, multiplebusinesses, or an industry. As yet another example, the first set ofinformation may reflect feedback collected through a first method ortechnique; and the second set of information may reflect feedbackcollected through a second method or technique.

In certain embodiments, report 300 may be electronically generated andmay be presented in an electronic format and displayed, for example, ona computer monitor or other form of electronic display. In a particularembodiment, report 300 may be updated in substantially real time, suchthat the information displayed in report 300 changes over time asadditional user feedback is received. In these embodiments, the rate atwhich report 300 is updated may depend, among other things, upon therate at which user feedback is categorized and assessed. In certainembodiments, report 300 may be used to provide an organized metric forassessing the health of a business and its operation across numerousbusiness-related categories. In certain embodiments, report 300 may beused to provide a substantially real-time indication of customer,partner, and/or general public responses to one or more actions taken bya business. For example, report 300 may indicate customer responses to anew product introduced by a business. As another example, report 300 mayindicate a general public response to actions taken by a business thathave been discussed recently by one or more news media.

In certain embodiments, one or more software applications executed on acomputer system may be utilized to generate report 300. In theseembodiments, the one or more software applications executed on acomputer system may further be utilized to generate automated alertsbased on one or more criteria associated with the categorized userfeedback. For example, if the quantity of user comments exceeds acertain limit within a specified period of time, an automated alert maybe generated. In an alternative embodiment, if a certain number of usercomments having a negative rating are received in a specified period oftime, then an automated alert may be generated. Such an automated alertmay include, for example, an email or a text message sent to a personwithin the business designated as having responsibility for a particularcategory.

FIG. 4 illustrates example reports 300 that may be generated for each ofa plurality of industries. In the embodiments shown, each report 300includes fifteen categories of user feedback, including ninewebsite-related categories, a customer service category, a salescategory, a product category, a marketing category, a corporateoperations category, and an other category. In certain embodiments, acomment categorization hierarchy or indexing scheme may be developed foruse across numerous industries and/or across numerous businesses withina single industry. Through the use of such an indexing scheme, userfeedback collected with respect to multiple businesses may be utilizedto develop an industry benchmark for user feedback. In certainembodiments, such a benchmark may be utilized to assist in assessing thehealth of a business within a particular industry. In certainembodiments, a standard indexing scheme may be utilized across multiplebusinesses, with each business utilizing the same indexing scheme aloneor together with business specific categories. Alternatively, within astandardized indexing scheme, each business may utilizebusiness-specific sub-categories. For example, in a product categoryeach business may identify one or more sub-categories associated withspecific products produced, marketed, and/or sold by that business.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example categorization scheme 400 that may beutilized to categorize user feedback for a business, for multiplebusinesses within an industry, or for multiple businesses acrossmultiple industries.

FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate an example interactive report 500 for displayingbusiness-related user feedback. In the embodiment shown, report 500includes a bar graph and identifies fifteen categories of user feedback.In certain embodiments, software associated with report 500 may allow auser to interact with report 500 to manipulate the display ofinformation provided. For example, if report 500 is presented on acomputer screen, a user may use a mouse or other device to interact withreport 500. In a particular embodiment, if a user clicks on one of thearrows 502 at the top of bar graph 504 shown in report 500 a, then bargraph 504 may expand to present more detailed information includinginformation for sub-categories within a particular category, as shown inreport 500 b. In certain embodiments, a user may drag a cursor 506 overa portion of bar graph 504 and obtain additional information regardingthe data presented, such as is shown on report 500 c.

In certain embodiments, a user may interact with report 500 to generatea list of comments associated with one or more categories. For example,by clicking on one of the bars 508 of bar graph 504 presented in report500 c, a user may access a comment listing, such as comment listing 600shown in FIG. 7. Comment listing 600 includes specific user commentsassociated with a particular category or subcategory. In certainembodiments, comment listing 600 may include additional informationrelated to particular comments. For example, comment listing 600 mayidentify the time and date that a particular comment was received, therating assigned to a particular comment, the source of the particularcomment (such as the URL of the web page that the web page user wasvisiting at, or just prior to, the time that the comment was submitted),etc.

In certain embodiments, software for use in reporting user feedback mayutilize features described in, for example, one or more of U.S. Pat. No.6,421,724; U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,581; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,928,392. Incertain embodiments, one or more of report 300, report 500, and commentlisting 600 may be customizable using one or more filters, sortingtools, etc.

FIGS. 8A-8B illustrate example selection tools 700 that may be used toselect portions of user feedback and/or to generate customized reports.As shown in FIG. 8A, in certain embodiments, feedback may be selectedbased on a particular domain or website. For example, feedback may beselected using domain selector 702, which may utilize a drop-down menuor other appropriate selection technique. Additionally or alternatively,in certain embodiments, feedback may be selected for one or morespecific web pages. In a particular embodiment, particular web pages maybe selected from a list or by specifying the URL for the particular webpage(s). For example, a URL may be specified in new page tool 704 andparticular pages may be selected from group selector tool 706. As shown,in certain embodiments, group selector tool 706 may utilize radiobuttons or other appropriate selection methods or techniques. In certainembodiments, feedback may also be selected based on a particular commentcard or other user feedback technique or tool. For example, a particularcomment card may be added using comment card tool 708 and then selectedusing group selector tool 706. Through the use of these tools andtechniques, new collections of user feedback may be defined. In certainembodiments, the criteria for these new collections may be stored forfuture use or selection.

As shown in FIG. 8B, in certain embodiments, portions of user feedbackmay be selected by category and/or by choosing previously establishedfiltering criteria or groups. For example, categories may be defined bypage topics, by page functions, or by URL paths. In certain embodiments,multiple categories and/or subcategories of feedback may be selected foruse in generating a customized report. As shown in FIG. 8B, individualcategories may be selected from a list using selection tool 710, whichmay utilize a radio button or other appropriate selection technique. Inparticular embodiments, information about particular categories may behidden or displayed depending upon selected settings. For example, byselecting expansion tool 712, particular criteria for a group may bedisplayed.

FIGS. 9A-9B illustrate administrator tools 800 that may be used toallocate access to the data collected through user feedback. Forexample, an administrator may identify a new system user through the useof administrator tool 800 a. In certain embodiments, the administratormay identify a new system user in field 802, select certain reports withreport selector 804, and grant access to certain report groups withaccess tool 806. In particular embodiments, a user may be identified bytheir name, network ID, email address, employee ID, etc. Once systemusers have been identified and given access to the data collected,certain aspects of this access may be reviewed or modified usingadministrator tool 800 b. As shown in FIG. 9B, a listing of the systemusers may be presented that allows an administrator to review theassociated data and reports assigned to that user. In particularembodiments, in addition to allocating access to particular reports,administrator tools 800 may be used to assign certain alerts toparticular system users.

FIGS. 10A-10B illustrate example composite reports 900 that may beutilized to display information about feedback received. In particularembodiments, reports 900 may be updated in real-time (or substantiallyreal-time) as information is received from web site users. As shown inFIG. 10A, composite report 900 a includes a bar graph 902, and a list ofuser comments 904.

Bar graph 902 may be the same or substantially similar to bar graph 504in report 500. In the embodiment shown, the upper half of bar graph 902displays information about the volume and nature of the feedbackreceived for a selected week and the lower half of bar graph 904displays information about the volume and nature of the feedbackreceived for the week previous to the selected week. In certainembodiments, the nature of the feedback may be color coded. For example,positive feedback may be green, negative feedback may be red, andneutral feedback may be black or yellow. As shown in FIG. 10B, byselecting an arrow 906 at the top of bar graph 902, a category of bargraph 904 my expand to provide additional information aboutsubcategories of the category selected.

The list of user comments 904 may include a particular group of usercomments related to a particular web page, product, company, etc. Thelist may be determined by the selection methods discussed above withrespect to FIGS. 8A-9B. As shown in FIG. 10A, list 904 may include alink to the URL from which the comment was generated, a comment rating,a category and subcategory of the comment, the date and time the commentwas generated, and the text of the comment. In certain embodiments, thecomments may be sorted and filtered based on one or more of thesecriteria or others. For example, as shown in FIG. 10B the comments maybe filtered by a category, such as “Page Issue,” and a subcategory, suchas “Page Issue (but not print),” and may be sorted by date and time.Through the use of these administrative and reporting tools, certainembodiments may provide for efficient and timely assessment of theimpact of certain business activities based on user feedback.

Although the present invention has been described with severalembodiments, a plenitude of changes, variations, alterations,transformations, and modifications may be suggested to one skilled inthe art, and it is intended that the present invention encompass suchchanges, variations, alterations, transformations, and modifications asfall within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A computer-implemented method for measuring and reporting businessintelligence based on comments collected from web page users usingsoftware associated with accessed web pages, comprising: using acomputer system, accessing a plurality of user comments collected fromusers of one or more web pages using feedback collection software thatprovides users who access a particular web page a viewable elementthrough which to provide their comments regarding one or more aspects ofa business associated with the particular web page; using a computersystem, associating each of the plurality of collected user commentswith one or more of a plurality of predefined business-relatedcategories; and using a computer system, generating a reportidentifying, for each of the plurality of predefined business-relatedcategories, one or more quantitative values derived from the collecteduser comments associated with that business-related category.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the feedback collection software provides theviewable element in response to a user indicating a desire to providepage-specific feedback regarding a particular accessed web page whilethe particular accessed web page is viewable within a browser window. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein the collected user comments comprisepage-specific feedback regarding particular accessed web pages inaddition to one or more other aspects of the business associated withthe particular accessed web pages.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinassociating the collected user comments with the predefinedbusiness-related categories is performed automatically using a computersystem in response to accessing the collected user comments.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the plurality of predefined business-relatedcategories comprises at least two categories selected from the groupconsisting of customer service, products, marketing, and sales.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein a quantitative value identified in the reportfor a particular predefined business-related category comprises thequantity of collected user comments associated with thatbusiness-related category.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising,prior to associating the collected user comments with the predefinedbusiness related categories: using a computer system to assign a ratingselected from a plurality of available ratings to each collected usercomment based on a subjective assessment of the collected user comment;wherein a quantitative value identified in the report for a particularpredefined business-related category comprises a quantity of collecteduser comments assigned to a particular rating.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein the report comprises a bar graph comprising a plurality ofcolor-coded bars, each color-coded bar representing a corresponding oneof the plurality of predefined business-related categories and eachcolor representing a corresponding one of the plurality of availableratings.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the plurality of availableratings comprises positive, negative, and neutral ratings. 10.(canceled)
 11. (canceled)
 12. (canceled)
 13. A system for measuring andreporting business intelligence pertinent to a business, comprisingsoftware encoded in a computer readable medium and when executed usingone or more processors operable to: access a plurality of user commentscollected from users of one or more web pages using feedback collectionsoftware that provides users who access a particular web page a viewableelement through which to provide their comments regarding one or moreaspects of a business associated with the particular web page; associateeach of the plurality of collected user comments with one or more of aplurality of predefined business-related categories; and generate areport identifying, for each of the plurality of predefinedbusiness-related categories, one or more quantitative values derivedfrom the collected user comments associated with that business-relatedcategory.
 14. The system of claim 13, further comprising the feedbackcollection software that provides users who access a particular web pagea viewable element through which to provide their comments regarding oneor more aspects of a business associated with the particular web page.15. The system of claim 14, wherein the feedback collection softwareprovides the viewable element in response to a user indicating a desireto provide page-specific feedback regarding a particular accessed webpage while the particular accessed web page is viewable within a browserwindow.
 16. The system of claim 13, wherein the collected user commentscomprise page-specific feedback regarding particular accessed web pagesin addition to one or more other aspects of the business associated withthe particular accessed web pages.
 17. The system of claim 13, whereinthe plurality of predefined business-related categories comprises atleast two categories selected from the group consisting of customerservice, products, marketing, and sales.
 18. The system of claim 13,wherein a quantitative value identified in the report for a particularpredefined business-related category comprises the quantity of collecteduser comments associated with that business-related category.
 19. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein: the software is further operable to accessan assigned rating selected from a plurality of available ratings foreach collected user comment based on a subjective assessment of thecollected user comment; wherein a quantitative value identified in thereport for a particular predefined business-related category comprises aquantity of collected user comments assigned to a particular rating. 20.The system of claim 19, wherein the report comprises a bar graphcomprising a plurality of color-coded bars, each color-coded barrepresenting a corresponding one of the plurality of predefinedbusiness-related categories and each color representing a correspondingone of the plurality of available ratings.
 21. The system of claim 20,wherein the plurality of available ratings comprises positive, negative,and neutral ratings.
 22. (canceled)
 23. (canceled)
 24. (canceled)
 25. Acomputer-implemented method for generating an electronically generatedbusiness intelligence report, comprising: generating by a computersystem a plurality of category indicators each identifying one of aplurality of predefined business-related categories; and generating by acomputer system a plurality of quantitative indicators identifying, foreach of the plurality of predefined business-related categories, one ormore quantitative values derived from user comments collected from usersof one or more web pages using feedback collection software thatprovides users who access a particular web page a viewable elementthrough which to provide their comments regarding one or more aspects ofa business associated with the particular web page.
 26. The method ofclaim 25, wherein the feedback collection software provides the viewableelement in response to a user indicating a desire to providepage-specific feedback regarding a particular accessed web page whilethe particular accessed web page is viewable within a browser window.27. The method of claim 25, wherein the plurality of predefinedbusiness-related categories comprises at least two categories selectedfrom the group consisting of customer service, products, marketing, andsales.
 28. The method of claim 25, wherein a quantitative valueidentified in the report for a particular predefined business-relatedcategory comprises the quantity of collected user comments associatedwith that business-related category.
 29. The method of claim 25, whereina quantitative value identified in the report for a particularpredefined business-related category comprises a quantity of collecteduser comments assigned to a particular rating, the collected usercomments being assigned to one of the plurality of available ratingsbased on a subjective assessment of each of the collected user comments.30. The method of claim 29, further comprising generating a bar graph,the plurality of quantitative indicators comprising color-coded bars,each color-coded bar representing one of the plurality of predefinedbusiness-related categories, and each color representing one of theplurality of available ratings.
 31. The method of claim 29, wherein theplurality of available ratings comprises positive, negative, and neutralratings.
 32. The method of claim 30, wherein the bar graph comprises afirst half and a second half, the first half being separated from thesecond half by an axis of the graph.
 33. The method of claim 32, whereinfirst half comprises a mirror-image of the second half.
 34. The methodof claim 32, wherein the first half comprises a first set of informationand the second half comprises a second set of information, the first setof information being different than the second set of information.